Kashmiri Rebels Decapitate Captive Norwegian Tourist

Published: August 14, 1995

SRINAGAR, Kashmir, Aug. 13—
Kashmiri rebels decapitated a Norwegian tourist they kidnapped a month ago, and they threatened today to kill an American and three Europeans they are holding unless India frees 15 jailed separatist militants.

Women who had gone to fetch water today found the body of the Norwegian, Hans Christian Ostro, near a canal in the Himalayan village of Seer, the police said. The name of the separatist group Al Faran was carved on his chest with a knife.

His head was found later, 40 yards away.

The rebels left a note in Mr. Ostro's shirt pocket threatening to kill the other hostages, the police said.

"We have killed the hostage because the Government has failed to accept our demands," the note said. "In 48 hours, if our demands are not met, the other hostages will meet the same fate."

Indian officials have refused to consider a swap. But a spokesman declined to comment on whether India would adhere to that position now that a hostage has been killed. "These are sensitive things," said Ram Mohan Rao, of the state government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr. Ostro, 27, of Oslo, was one of six hikers kidnapped in early July in a tourist region 40 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of the state. The village where his body was discovered is about 30 miles south of where the hostages were last seen.

Muslim militant groups have been fighting since 1989 for the independence of Jammu and Kashmir, the only state with a Muslim majority in mostly Hindu India. At least 12,000 people have been killed.

Some rebel groups have recently begun to kidnap Westerners, but three incidents in the last year have ended with hostages' being released unharmed. An Israeli was killed in a gunfight when he resisted an abduction attempt in 1992.

Al Faran was unknown until it claimed responsibility for the kidnappings last month.

Donald Hutchings, 42, of Spokane, Wash., and John Childs, 41, of Simsbury, Conn., were kidnapped on July 4 along with two Britons, Paul Wells, 23, of London and Keith Mangan, 33, of Middlesbrough.

Mr. Childs escaped four days later, and on the same day Mr. Ostro and Dirk Hasert, 26, of Erfurt, Germany, were abducted.

In an audio tape released on Aug. 5, Mr. Hutchings said that he had been shot during an attack on the rebels by Indian soldiers, and that Mr. Mangan had a broken leg. Two photos accompanying the tape showed the two men swathed in bloodstained bandages, lying on the floor of a hut.

India denies that any attack occurred.

Pakistan, a mostly Muslim country, has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, and the state is divided between them by a cease-fire line.

Neighboring Pakistan is said to finance and train militant groups that want the state of Jammu and Kashmir to become part of Pakistan. Other rebel groups want the state to become an independent country.

The Indian Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, condemned the killing and said his Government would continue efforts to win the release of the other hostages.

Pakistan condemned the killing of Mr. Ostro, and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appealed for the unconditional release of those still in custody, said Najmuddin Sheikh, a Foreign Ministry official in Islamabad.

Ingvard Havnen, a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman, told the Norwegian radio, "What is important now is that those who are responsible for this act have to answer for it."